Strange Bud Blast on Phal

[melcat]

I was given this little phal (compared to my other with a spike of over 3 ft!) and I ended up repotting it in bark. It was amazing how much spag it had been crammed into! I repotted my huge phal while it was in bloom and I didn't lose any buds, I figured it was best to repot this one too. A week later all of the buds blasted except one, right in the middle. Why would it kill all the flowers except one? Especially one right in the middle?

Otherwise, both of my phals are in good shape and I haven't managed to kill either in the months that I've had them. I think I have the hang of this now!

[tucker85]

Repotting any orchid causes stress to the plant. Plants should not be repotted if they're in spike or bloom unless the health of the orchid is being compromised and you feel it's important to repot. Bud drop and flower loss will often be the result.

Phalaenopsis are more tolerant of repotting than other orchids. Very often phals can be repotted and they will continue to bloom, but sometimes the stress will cause the bloom to fail. There's no way to tell how the orchid will respond until you do it.

Never-the-less I think you made the right decision to repot the orchid since the roots were tightly packed in old sphagnum. You probably saved some of the roots from dying.

[PhalAddiction]

Because the buds were already opened, you can't really tell how long they've been open.

Usually, bud blasting occurs when the bud has not opened and therefore causes it not to bloom and dry up.

This could mean that the flowers have been in bloom for a long time already and is just natural.

I agree, that repotting does not effect Phals much, as I do it with all my phals.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Flowers could've just been spent. It most likely had nothing to do with the repotting.

With Phals, (or any orchid for that matter), I really wouldn't recommend waiting to see the symptoms of root damage in order to make a rushed effort to repot the orchid in an attempt to save it from dying. I suggest repotting the orchid as soon as you get it and get the plant out of the moss way before anything bad happens. It's less stress on the plant in the long run, and it's less stress on you, the grower.

[melcat]

I've had bad luck with moss and I didn't want to take any chances. I knew it might blast the flowers but I wanted to know why it would skip one and leave it alone?

[camille1585]

I repot everything (or at least look at the roots) of everything that comes through the door, no matter how healthy it looks. I have yet to lose any Phal blooms because of that. I would say that repotting rarely affects them, unless the roots were in very bad condition to begin with.
How long have those blooms been open? If they've been open nearly the entire time you've had the plant, it could have been time for the m to go anyway, and you just happened to repot at that time.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

That one flower may have been the one to bloom last, idk. Unless you have seen this plant's buds bloom, and remember the order in which they bloomed, you will never know for sure. And as stated, unless you have had the plant prior to the buds going into full bloom, you will never know how long those flowers have really been in bloom for.

Not to mention, it's also quite possible that different blossoms have different lifespans, they may not all wither and fall off within the same exact span of time. For example, blossom #1 may last 10 days, blossom #2 may last 12 days, but bloom #3 may last 11 days; but in general the flowers on the plant would last between 10 - 15 days.

Because you really don't know with 100% certainty whether those blooms are fresh or not, or how long they've really been in bloom for, you will not be able to get an answer that is 100% definitive from anybody. We can only speak in terms of possibilities and probabilities on this matter.

The consensus so far has been that this is most likely not the result of the repotting, and that it is highly probable that this is a natural withering of the blooms, unless further evidence is provided somewhere down the line to prove otherwise.

On the bright side, you still have one flower to look at before it goes out.